“This is Death’s Embrace. Contrary to what you may think, it will not send your enemies to my domain; rather, it will bring your allies back from it. This is a power I am loath to relinquish, so the limitations I have placed on it are worth noting.”
“You may use it to perform resurrection three times a day. This power functions exactly like the scrolls you use, drawing on the life force of the user, in this case, your life force, Sintári. However, Death’s Embrace will channel the required Essence for you, so you will not experience the same ill effects as you did when using the scrolls.”
“Death’s Embrace can also overcome the limitations of normal resurrection magic. If you combine all three of its charges, the rod’s power can be used to return one person to life whose body is damaged beyond the parameters of typical resurrection.”
“But there is a price to pay for these benefits. For Death’s Embrace to function, it must attune itself to you. Once it does, you will be unable to use any other form of resurrection magic. Your only recourse to bring someone back from my domain will be through the power of Death’s Embrace.”
“If you are willing to accept the power and the limits of Death’s Embrace, then I am happy to offer my gift to you, Sintári.”
With that said, Lady Death extended the powerful rod towards me.
The power she offered was incredible, just as every single Artifact I had been gifted was, but even though Lady Death had described the limits of Death’s Embrace’s powers, I saw no downside. As it was, I could only perform two resurrections before I was overcome by the strain, and even then, I needed to have the expensive scrolls in order to do that. The Artifact she was offering me would let me raise three of my people, or one who had been savaged beyond the resurrection scrolls’ limits, an ability that I lacked entirely. Attuning myself to Death’s Embrace seemed to only increase my abilities, so I accepted the powerful Artifact from her without hesitation.
Death’s Embrace – God-Forged Artifact – This finely made rod was crafted for Dreya Sintári by Lady Death herself. The Rod’s power can be used to resurrect up to three individuals per day, or one individual whose body has been damaged beyond the limits of normal resurrection. Upon acceptance of Lady Death’s gift, Death’s Embrace will irrevocably bind itself to Dreya Sintári, and she will be unable to use any other means to perform a resurrection. Under no circumstances may Death’s Embrace be used by anyone other than Dreya Sintári.
The last line of the Artifact’s description was worded differently than any of the other Artifacts I had received, and I puzzled over it for a second before Lady Death commented.
“Although I prefer to use more decisive language than my siblings,” she smiled at me in obvious amusement, “it means the same thing.”
“Thank you, Lady Death,” I offered graciously. “Yours is truly a unique gift, and I am honored to have received it from your hands.”
“I hope you do not have cause to ever think otherwise,” she replied wistfully.
Her tempered response seemed odd, but she quickly stepped away and then vanished in a shimmer. Although Lady Death had gone, Nentai still remained, and I looked at her in puzzlement.
“I told you I planned on bringing you two gifts at a time,” Nentai commented almost playfully. “It took some doing, but I have something else for you. Well, at least it will be for you to give away.”
A large box sat on the table beside her, but it wasn’t the chest she had summoned before. This container appeared more like a toolbox than a treasure chest of any kind. Still, I wasn’t about to look askance at any gift she wanted to bestow upon me, so I lifted the lid to peer inside the rough box. My confusion must have been obvious, because as I stared at the inexplicable pair of items inside the box, Nentai coaxed me to pick one of them up. I followed her advice, and when I gripped one of the heavy hammers, its description popped up.
Forge Hammer – Relic – These hammers were crafted long ago by a smith whose name has been lost to the ages. When used to craft any mundane items, the hammers will perform as a typical smith’s tool. However, when a competent smith wields one of the hammers to craft weapons or armor, the true nature of its power will be revealed. All martial items forged with one of these hammers will not only be of superior quality but will also be imparted with increased power and strength. Other effects may also occur, depending on the skill of the smith.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
“I know that you have three smiths now,” Nentai spoke up as stared at the hammer in my hand. “But the hammers aren’t soul-bound, they’re forge bound, so any smith in the forge can use one once it has been attuned. I took the liberty of keying them to you, so you may bind or rebind them to any forge you choose as you see fit. All you need to do is tap it on an anvil.”
“We need to talk,” I whispered to her. “Now.”
Nentai was clearly surprised by the forceful tone I managed to impart to my hushed voice, but she recovered quickly from her shock.
“You will stay here,” she commanded my companions. “I have things to discuss with the Sintári that are none of your concern. When we are through, you will not question her about them. Is that clear?”
A chorus of “Yes, Goddess” echoed through the room, and Nentai led me upstairs as if the entire thing had been her idea. When I closed the door behind us, she turned on me immediately.
“You are bold, Sintári, and I admire that trait,” she began. “But while I’m willing to tolerate some of your... eccentricities, there are limits to what I will allow. Do you understand me?”
“No, I don’t,” I replied to her bluntly. “And that’s why we’re here. I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, Nentai, for all the gifts that you and your brothers and sisters have given me. But something’s not right—there’s something you’re not telling me. You’re hiding things from me, and I need to know what they are.”
“You do,” Nentai confessed with a sigh. “But you’re not ready for that knowledge just yet. If I thought that you were, I’d tell you myself right now. But as much as I want to tell you, I must admit that my father is right. It’s too soon. The answers to the questions you’re asking will only lead to your destruction if you learn them now. I know that what I’m telling you is difficult for you to accept, but I promise you, I will give you what you seek the moment the time is right for you to know. Until then, please accept all that I have to offer you and trust that I have your best interests at heart.”
“You actually care about me,” I blurted out the truth as it became all too apparent. “You’re not just running errands or delivering items—there’s something more to it for you.”
“Never let anyone know that,” Nentai replied sharply. “It would very likely cost you your life.”
“I don’t understand,” I responded in near desperation. “Please, tell me something—anything that will help me to understand.”
“I cannot,” Nentai rebuffed me gently. “Just know that you are right, and that I am withholding anything more than that for your own safety.”
I was filled with an unexpected feeling of… something. Although I had no idea why Nentai was so interested in me, I realized that I had come to share her sense of attachment. She had become something more to me than I had appreciated, and I dreaded the thought that I might not see her again.
“Will you still visit me?”
“When I can,” she smiled warmly as she shimmered away into nothingness.
I stood alone in my room for quite a while, rolling the Goddess’ words around in my head searching for any hidden clues to why she had become so attached to me, but came up empty. If I was to believe her, and I had no reason to doubt her, discovering that truth would only put me in danger. So, as frustrating as it was for me to do, I shelved the mystery for then and decided to simply wait until she chose to reveal the truth to me. Since it was my only option at the time, it wasn’t all that difficult for me to do.
When I finally wandered downstairs, my companio
ns looked at me expectantly. Despite Nentai’s admonition, they were more than curious about our discussion, and although they were clearly not going violate the Goddess’s command and ask me what had been said, they were more than willing to listen should I be willing to talk.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said as I took the last few steps. “I don’t even understand the conversation we just had.”
“Can you at least tell us what she looked like?” Khorim inquired.
“You’ve seen Nentai before,” I replied in confusion.
“Not her, girl, Lady Death! What did she look like?”
“Are you telling me you didn’t look for yourself?” I asked him incredulously. “She was right there in front of you, you dolt.”
“I was too… nervous,” he replied meekly.
“We were all similarly affected,” Venna added. “None of us were able to see her. We all felt compelled to look away as soon as she reached for her cowl. You were the only one to see her face.”
“I’m not sure what to say,” I answered. “She told me a great many things but didn’t say that I shouldn’t describe her to you. Yet, from what you’re telling me, it doesn’t seem that she wants anyone else to know her true form. Forgive me, but I will have to give this some thought before I decide what to do.”
A subtle nudge in my mind told me that my intuition had been correct, and I hid the smile that tried to creep onto my face. Nentai’s influence was no longer some mysterious thing to me, and I easily recognized her gentle prod.
I let my companions look over Death’s Embrace and the two Forge Hammers for a while and then Stel put together a hasty dinner. With one Hammer in each of our forges, we could produce a great deal of powerful equipment for our forces, something that might very well make all the difference if we were ever attacked. But despite his more than equal skill, Renn was still focused on making the more mundane items we needed for everyday life, and we decided together that both Hammers would go to Hilgreth’s forge for the time being. Renn would definitely be getting one of them eventually, as his forge was intended to service not only the troops that manned the fortress’s defenses, but the Palace guards as well.
After dinner, I tucked Death’s Embrace into one of my Cloak’s pockets, and the twin Hammers into another. Everyone wanted to accompany me when I brought the Hammers to Hilgreth’s forge in the morning and decided to put off their regular duties for a while so that we could make the presentation together first thing the next day.
17
Technically, we didn’t visit Hilgreth first thing the next morning as we’d planned. I felt compelled to stop at Renn’s forge first, to explain to him why we were bestowing both Hammers on Hilgreth’s forge.
“I understand, Dreya Sintári,” he replied while looking me in the eye. “They’re making all the weapons right now, while I’m fabricating the necessities. It only makes sense that you would give them a boon like this.”
Aside from his casual acceptance of the situation, the complete absence of Renn’s typical awkward shyness took me by surprise. Renn smiled when he saw the curious expression on my face and offered an explanation.
“Hilgreth’s slowly beating the shyness out of me,” he offered. “So to speak.”
“She’s doing a hell of a job,” I replied. “As are you.”
He finally blushed just a little at my compliment, and I left him to his work before I could set his progress back any further.
Both Hilgreth and Georl were hammering on some metal when we arrived at the Garrison forge. Hilgreth looked to be making a spearhead, while Georl’s metal was taking on the obvious shape of a sword blade. Both smiths immediately stopped their relentless pounding as we approached, and while Georl greeted me with a friendly but toothsome grin, Hilgreth was looking me over with a great deal of apprehension.
“Nothing God-forged today,” I teased her. “I have something slightly different for you this time.”
My cryptic words had their desired effect, and Hilgreth’s apprehensive glare only intensified as I approached the anvil where she was working. I motioned for Georl to join us as well, and once he and my companions were gathered around Hilgreth’s anvil, I reached inside my Cloak, and pulled out one of the Forge Hammers. Hilgreth looked at me as if I’d gone insane, obviously wondering why I would make such a production over a very basic looking hammer, until I tapped it against her anvil.
Despite the fact that I had only struck the anvil gently, the sound of the Hammer’s strike rang throughout the entire forge like the pealing of a bell. The clear ringing tone was not overly loud or oppressive, but it still managed to convey the impression that something extraordinary had just occurred. Hilgreth’s look of near disdain vanished immediately with the tone and was replaced by a baffled expression.
“This may help to clear things up for you,” I said as I extended the Hammer towards her.
Once her fingers wrapped around the haft of the Relic, her eyes lit up in recognition, and she stuttered almost incoherently.
“This… What… I don’t,” Hilgreth fumbled as the nature of the Hammer’s power became known to her.
“I know, kinda awesome, isn’t it?” I smiled at her as she babbled.
“What is it, exactly?” Georl asked.
“See for yourself,” I grinned as I pulled out the other Hammer, repeated the process and handed the second Hammer to him.
“This is incredible,” Georl uttered in awe as he managed to keep his composure. “We can forge truly magnificent things with these.”
“And I expect that you will,” I replied to him. “At least once Hilgreth regains her senses.”
Hilgreth had stopped her ramblings and was sitting on one of the forge’s stools, just staring at the Relic in her hands. When she heard me mention her name, she picked her head up to look at me and spoke her first coherent words since I had placed the Hammer in her hands.
“I am honored that you have entrusted me with this,” Hilgreth slowly spoke. “It is far more than I ever expected.”
“This is no gift,” I replied to her. “You’ve earned it, Hilgreth, as has Georl.”
We left the two of them to marvel over the Relics and went our separate ways to pick up our daily tasks. It was close enough to my sparring time with Ella, so I headed over to the training area to find her. Ella was waiting for me there, and I picked up a practice sword as I entered the little arena we used.
Almost as soon as we started sparring, I could see the difference in her technique. Although she still needed a lot of work in that area, her thrusts were no longer desperate, and when she swiped at me, she didn’t lose her footing quite as often as she used to. Ella still didn’t manage to land a hit, but her defense was much improved with the added level of control she had, and it was only near the end of our session that I began to detect a hint of her former rage creeping into her attacks. So, rather than allow that emotion to come back into play, I cut our time a little short to prevent it from taking hold of her.
“Did you feel the difference?” I asked her when we were done.
“I did,” she replied. “I didn’t lose control of myself this time, and I was able to focus on what I was doing instead of just lashing out at you.”
“Exactly,” I responded to her assessment. “You need to work on your technique a bit, but we can address that later. It’s far more important to make sure you can control your anger first. Once I’m certain that you can, we’ll move on from there.”
“I’m also going to visit you less frequently from now on. That’s part of the healing process. As you get better, you’ll need me less and less, and you have to start getting used to that now.”
“Can’t we see each other anyway?” She pleaded. “Even if it’s not for healing?”
“I’m sure that we will sometimes,” I assured her. “But you know the situation.”
Ella nodded her understanding—we had been over this before, and she knew that my relationship with Tási was more important to
me than anything else. Healing Ella may have created something between us as well, something that neither of us had the power to ignore, but as much as I cared for, and even loved her, I would not allow that to interfere with the powerful bond I shared with Tási.
The time for our sparring session was over then, and Ella had to return to her guard duties. After we parted, I picked up on my usual tour around the Garrison before venturing back into the valley. I had skipped all of the usual places I visited that morning in my haste to reach Hilgreth’s forge, but since it was still relatively early, I stopped by a few of the farms and ranches on my way home.
The crops were coming along well, promising a bountiful harvest to come. Our livestock were also showing obvious signs of the Dryad’s influence, and the ranchers expected their small herds to multiply quickly. Soon, the bounty of the valley would produce more than we needed to sustain our population, but I knew that there were many more citizens destined to arrive, and its fertile ground would have to keep up with their needs as well.
I was relieved to return home that night, not only after having an entire day filled with only good news, but also fairly secure in the knowledge that we would not be having any unexpected visits that evening.
Over dinner, Stel informed me that Evans had picked out the troops he was going to assign to our outpost and offered Faine command over the facility. She seemed like the perfect choice for the job. The elven woman had risen to notoriety after I had resurrected her and become a popular and effective leader in our military.
With the new arrivals, we had a standing Army of nearly two hundred, and the First Marshal had decided to send thirty of them to man our outpost in the morning. Among those would be a few with some expertise in bartering, and they would be responsible for purchasing anything we might need from the passing caravans. The outpost troops would also spread word of our settlement to the caravans, so that they could get the message out to the rest of Arrika for us. Hopefully, in time, we would recruit enough new citizens for us to take the next step and expand our fledgling realm into the beginnings of a true empire.
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